Blog : Little Lilypad Co

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The Little Lilypad is a lifestyle blog mostly written by a mum to two beautiful, cheeky and entertaining daughters. It is sometimes written by the Man on the Pad or by one of our baby bloggers. Occasionally we accept guest posts too. There is frequently talk of sustainable living, saving money, lifestyle and travel. It is hopefully helpful, sometimes funny and always honest.
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Category: News

  1. Fancy a trip down memory lane .... or to Bexley?

    Posted on

    When I was 7 years old, I met a friend on holiday in Spain. We chatted about everything and anything like most 7 year olds and at the end of the holiday we exchanged addresses and became pen pals. She lived in Bexley in London and I was in Birmingham in the West Midlands. It seemed like a million miles away from each other back then, in the days before email, texting and Facetime. We would write to each other every single week. She would hear about everything from my aspirations and exam woes to friendship squabbles and boyfriend drama.

    Pen friends 1

    I couldn't wait for the letter to come through the letterbox each week to hear about her adventures "down south". Bexley seemed like a foreign land, so when our parents agreed for us to meet up, it was like having a mini holiday all over again. I remember us getting the train and tube into London and my pen pal laughing at me for being in awe of the tube, we went sight seeing around London and went to visit the Queen (although you couldn't get in past the gates in those days)

    Pen friends 2

    Fast forward 30 years and our lines of communication have changed a little (along with our ability to travel without our parents).  I have held my driving licence since I was 17 although there is still some childlike thrill about taking a train or tube ride but rather than sleeping on her bedroom floor like we did as children, I can now choose to say at a local hotel, like 

    Holiday Inn Bexley

     

    Pen friends 4

    She is one of my oldest friends but these days we now we tend to use Facebook and emails to stay in touch and arrange to meet up I love how instantly we can chat now but I do miss seeing the hand written envelope popping through the letter box and ripping it open to see what secrets we were sharing that week.

    This weekend she is coming up to Warwickshire, although I suspect that Warwick Castle may not quite match up to Buckingham Palace, so we will be planning another trip down south very soon and I plan on doing some real sightseeing around London. I may go and visit the Queen again but the London Eye is top of the list for me this time.

    Did you ever have a pen pal as a child? Did you ever go and visit them? 

    Pen Friends 3

    This is a collaborative post.

  2. #Lastingchange : Postcard from Kenya

    Posted on

    I had a blog post scheduled up for today, something about a minor family crisis that happened over the weekend on the Lilypad that I was going to share on the blog, but then an email dropped into my inbox from Team Honk. An email that talks about their visit to the Mothers 2 Mothers project in Kisumu, Kenya. An email that makes you want to do something.

    Kenya has the fourth-largest HIV epidemic in the world. An estimated 1.6 million people are living with HIV and 1.1 million children have been orphaned after losing one or both parents to the disease.

    Thanks to Comic Relief funding, Mothers2Mothers is helping pregnant women living with HIV to access the life-saving health services they need to prevent mother-to-child transmission. The project is targeting Nyanza province where prevalence of the disease is almost three times higher than the national average.

    Women often discover they are HIV positive during ante-natal care and mentoring helps them to come to terms with this, to deal with the side effects on antiretroviral drugs, to eat well and to deliver babies with the best chance of being HIV negative. Women also learn to breastfeed safely, and to avoid stigma.

     

    A-social-postcard-11

    Team Honk are finding out more about these projects and through blogging, are sharing them with a wider audience. They met with Elizabeth who says: “HIV is just a condition, you can go further, you can make wonders, you can help others” #lastingchange . The project exudes positivity but continues to need help with funding.

    Breastfeeding is something close to my heart and the World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding while taking HIV antiretroviral drugs. Mentoring enables women to breastfeed safely #lastingchange

    So you can see that I changed my blog post for today, it was a small change in my world but the work being done by Comic Relief is making big changes across the world, let's see what else we can change?

    #lastingchange

    @RedNoseDay launches today for 2015. Let’s celebrate the difference donations to @ComicRelief make to lives across the world.

     

     

  3. WIN a Family Ticket to Hatton World : Pumpkin Week

    Posted on

    We love Halloween, it is one of my favourite celebrations. It is always good honest fun and pumpkin carving is one of the best parts of the build up to Halloween and we take it very seriously!

    According to Wikipedia, a jack-o'-lantern is a carved pumpkin, or turnip and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o'-the-wisp or jack-o'-lantern.

    Pumpkins

    So when we found out that Hatton Country World were hosting "Pumpkin Week", we may have been a little excited. Pumpkin Week is running at Hatton Country World from Saturday 25th October to Sunday 2nd November 2014.

    There is A FREE pumpkin for every child with daily carving competitions in our brilliant (but slightly spooky!) themed marquee. Plus Hatton’s Pumpkin Hunt with a prize badge and Hatton’s Halloween Pumpkin House along with a full day’s programme of Farmyard Fun!

    We will be going to check out the spooktacular event but would you like to go to? (although the tickets are valid till December)

    All you need to do is enter below ......

     a Rafflecopter giveaway

     Good luck!

  4. DIY Home Improvement: Should You Pressure Wash Your Roof?

    Posted on

    We have been talking more and more about home improvements now the bad weather seems to be setting in and there are some jobs that are best done before the sleet and snow comes! The inside of the house is the place where things are most noticeable but what about those areas that you don't always think about?

    You may already know how useful a pressure washer is for making light work of some tough cleaning jobs, but is there any reason why you can’t also use it to remove dirt, moss and mould from your roof? I personally hadn't given it much though but apparently by just using a wider spray and start cleaning from a safe distance, you can gradually move in closer towards the roof so that you can clean the asphalt and shingles effectively. If you have a pressure washer like the ones you can get at www.karcher.co.uk, here is a look at what you need to know before you clean your roof with it.

    What’s on your roof?

    If you have an asphalt shingle roof then it is actually an excellent food source for organisms like lichen, mould, algae and mildew.

    This is because many of the asphalt shingles fitted these days contain a limestone filler which helps to add weight to the shingles and make the roof sturdier. This same limestone filler is on the menu for the algae, which will feed on it and unfortunately, degrade the quality of the roof over time and reduce its lifespan.

    Points to consider

    If you are going to be successful in your attempts to clear all the things like moss that are enjoying the free meal on your roof, you have to assess the state of your roof and see what needs to be done.

    In order to remove things like algae and lichen, the water pressure required will have to be more powerful than the pressure you are going to get from an ordinary garden hose. A pressure washer with a strong enough jet of water is perfect for the job, and pretty much the only way that you are going to successfully remove the offending organisms.

    The current state of your roof is an important consideration and you need to assess its condition before you make any attempts to clean your roof with your pressure washer. If your roof shingles are showing signs of damage or are clearly loose, you probably may want to re-consider using your pressure washer until you have had a roofer look at the roof, and repair any minor damage before you carry on with the cleaning.

    Say goodbye to algae and moss

    The answer to the original question is yes, pressure washers are fantastic tools for cleaning your roof and ridding it of some of that unsightly algae and moss.

    Moss on roof

    The key to making the job a successful one and getting the roof looking good again without causing any damage, is to proceed with caution and harness the power of your pressure washer but use a nozzle that allows you to get a “soft wash”.

    A garden hose doesn’t have enough pressure to shift the debris, but at the same time you don’t want to use the full power of your pressure washer and use a nozzle that projects a concentrated powerful spray of water in too small a radius. You can change the bar of your pressure washer by using nozzles that have a larger orifice, so look for the kits that allow you to do this.

    Using the right nozzle and taking a patient approach to cleaning your roof will often be the answer. Now you know another great application for using your pressure washer to keep your home looking in top shape.

    Finlay Jordan is a home maintenance professional and he has contributed towards putting this handy advice together. Always on call, he often blogs about common maintenance issues and questions from his clients to help other homeowners care for their houses.

    Now, let's hope for a spell of sunshine this Autumn, so we can get outside and get jetwashing!!

    This post is in collaboration with Karcher.